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6.06.2012

Daikokuya

I have been eagerly waiting to eat ramen at Daikokuya for a while now. I've actually never eaten ramen in Southern California before, even though Santouka also has a branch there. So up to this point my favorite ramen has been Santouka (see post HERE), located inside San Jose's Mitsuwa Supermaket.
Prepping myself for a torturous wait, I stood outside on a Saturday 15 minutes before opening only to find that everyone that arrived wtihin the 1st hour of opening got seated right away. If you do arrive there when Daikokuya is open, make sure you put your name on the clipboard in the front.

Daikokuya only does one type of ramen here and that's their Daikoku ramen. It's a rich tonkatsu (pork) flavored broth with the only option of adding the kotteri flavor (back fat) to make the broth richer. The bowls here are pretty large, but they also offer a half size portion.

﻿The tonkatsu broth is milky and thick with small globs of fat floating around. Usually, I don't prefer beansprouts in my ramen, but there was only a small handful so it didn't obstruct my noodle slurping too much. A couple slices of pork are hidden right below the surface of the broth along with a soft boiled egg. The broth has a milky pork taste with a medium sodium level compared to Santouka, which is richer and salt laden.
The ramen here is really good, but I love the super saltiness and rich flavors from the broth at Santouka. I find that the broth at Santouka has more complex flavors, whereas the broth at Daikokuya is hearty and milder. Also, nothing beats the melt in your mouth special pork at Santouka. The pork at Daikokuya is a little on the tough side compared to Santouka's.

﻿The noodles here are perfect. It has just the perfect spring and bounce when chewing. I love how you can tell a good noodle house by the lack of conversation and loud slurping.

The shredded pork bowl was an combo option with the ramen. The shredded pork name is a little misleading because they are actually chunks of pork on top of the fluffy rice. At first glance it looks like nothing special, just pork on top of rice. Its so much more! Each piece of pork is somewhat fatty and partly crispy. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Every scoop is something different, either a juicy pork flavor, or a crispy bit of skin, or a sweetness of the ginger or green onion. I almost like this better than the ramen. Its so simple, but so perfect. ﻿